Once again, I am happy to be starting the weekly edition of Weekend Photo Fun. I do love this thread and the way it brings the discussion forums back to a fun place for all. I believe it is the best thread every week.
Last week we had another discussion thread going on about Tyco models, and I shared that I have collected about a half-dozen of the iconic Tyco train set cars from my youth. These have been upgraded to be good runners, and are used to bring back memories, and just for fun.
I decided I need to add a locomotive to my Tyco roster. What says Tyco train set better than a Santa Fe F Unit in Warbonnet paint with yellow air horns? I set out to find one.
Most of them on eBay are pretty well beaten up. The Santa Fe logo on the nose seems to take the worst of the beatings, and then the black Santa Fe lettering on the sides. Also, a lot of them are missing one or both horns.
I finally found one that looked good, and it arrived earlier this week. It is just missing the front coupler.
Upon inspection, I fould that a previous owner has replaced the Santa Fe emblem on the nose with a decal. No wonder it looked so good. They did a decent job.
The model was represented as running, but it sounded like everything was broken on the inside of the shell. There was all kinds of stuff in there rattling around. I opened it up before testing it, and to my surprise, there were weights made of metal rod taped to the inside that had broken loose. I guess someone was trying to make it pull better.
The power truck runs pretty good. I have set it aside for a future project. I have a crazy idea for it.
The body is in great shape. I have a Proto-Power-West F unit power chassis with a Mashima can motor that I hope can be made to fit beneath the Tyco shell. That should make it run good enough.
There you have it, my lame train set contribution for this week.
Show us what you have, all fun photos are welcome here.
Happy weekend!
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Thank you for another great sendoff to the last WPF of August 2020. My how time flies. Somewhere in nearly all of our pasts we have encountered a Tyco train in one form or another. They are a part of our Model RR DNA
I'll have to resort to some archive photos. This week I have been debugging that Broadway Limited K4, still! I have been exchanging emails with tech support and we are in the process of trying to determine if there is a problem with the BLI engine or with MY Digitrax DCC system. The tech guy mentioned that there are some rather odd interactions between Digitrax and Paragon decoders. He gave me a battery of tests to run that I will attack this rainy weekend.
Broadway Limited tech support is very helpful and knowledgeable. Great working with those folks.
Meanwhile —
I see there is a recent offering from GHB models of an HO model of the PRR DD1 electric locomotive. I'm on the fence over shelling out $600 for one of these or sticking with my Custom Brass model that performs reasonabbly well?
PRR_DD1a by Edmund, on Flickr
DD1-DCC by Edmund, on Flickr
And after paint:
PRR_DD1-fi2i by Edmund, on Flickr
Amongst friends:
PRR_under-wire_2k by Edmund, on Flickr
On to more great STUFF folks!
Cheers, Ed
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Happy Friday, looking forward to more awesome photos this weekend!
Kevin, nothing but nostalgia looking at that Tyco Warbonnet F unit. I had one just like it as a kid, and I bet many others who join in here will say the same. Glad to see you turning one of them into a good runner.
Ed, love that Pennsy motive power shot.
Bear, you've got me chuckling again.
I love feeling welcome to share my modeling projects in this thread each week, but the quality of the photos I've taken has dissatisfied me for a while now, as what I've shared hasn't always captured the details seen in person. I invested in a phone with a great camera, and I have to say it is really making a difference in enjoyment.
Phil
Great work all.
Im awaiting shipments frpm walthers and Fastracks so no projects for me at present.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
Kevin- Thanks again for starting the best thread of the week. I like that tyco unit. They were pretty much gone when I was a kid, I saw the model power and lifelike stuff come to life. I remember every year I would wait for the Farm & Fleet cataloge to see what train set I would ask for this year for christmas. Had loads of fun with those, all of which were thrown away. I did keep one set and gave it to a coworker to give to his son. He loved it! I do still have a LL Santa Fe f unit in the yellow and blue.
Ed- Best of luck with the k4! I agree $600 is a lot for a model! Ive never spent more than $140 on one. That brass model looks amazing. And it's custom?! I hope I get to that level one day. Great shot of the PRR electric power
Bear- Always love the beartoon of the week!
Phil- I think you meant to post that picture in the trains forum. This one is for models only! All jokes aside that new phone makes that scene come to life. I can't wait to see how it progresses! Fantastic work.
Jimmy- I hate having to wait for my shipments so I feel your pain. Why not did into the archives?
As for me this week I recieved a box of stuff from a user on here ( 2 SW7 shells, SW1500 shell, 4 BB kits and a whole lot of detail parts )
I built and weathered the one 40' SP boxcar and attatched one of the shells to my dummy chassis to see how it looks. Hopefully more updates this weekend! Looking forward to seeing everyone elses photos.
I'm off to Wally World so I'll comment when I get back.
I've been working on a Muir Models kit of a jail and an 1890's home. This is what they're supposed to look like:
Here's how the jail turned out. I didn't use anything from the kit.
On the house I tried to stick to the kit. Really I did.
The rails really are straight. Dang phone distortion.
See you in a few hours.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
Another good start to the weekend, both on the forum and in real life!
Thanks to Kevin for another start! You really have a wide range of models and interests. Nice F unit. E and F locomotives are from my childhood that represent modern passenger trains.
Ed, that's a nice DD1 you have. You also have a wide range of models.
Another Bear entry. I never think fast enough to come up with things like you do. I'm not real quick...
Phil, you're right, a good camera makes a big difference. Nice work!
Ringo, nice work on the Southern Pacific boxcar. Very realistic.
Chip, the jail is very good. You said you didn't use anything from the kit. What did you use to make the stone walls? It looks great.
I haven't finished anything this week. In fact I haven't worked on the layout at all. I'm trying to finish a part of a basement bathroom, but I work about 10 minutes, then sit and think about it for two hours, then another 10 minutes of work. At this rate I'll be back to the layout by Thanksgiving.
Here's another shot of the first thing I put on my N Scale layout.
York1 John
Kevin--It could be a lot worse than a missing coupler--all things considered. New chassis and motor, a little of what you do, and I think it will be a great little engine.
Ed--Sounds to me like you'd rather have a different project.
Bear--funny!
Phil,--although my phone is convenient for a lot of different reasons, the camera I use to take bird photos is right next to me when I'm snapping pictures of my work. I should use a better camera and stop complaining about distortion.
Ringo--Looks like Christmas to me.
York1What did you use to make the stone walls?
John--The first thing I did when I started back up working on my layout was finish the freight house I was working on before. The idea for the freight house came from a Mills Craftsman Kit--I think it is German--anyway, I changed a bunch of things, including using wood instead of stone. The stone is from the Mills kit. That plastic was hard!!! To cut out the windows I had to drill a series of holes because my Xacto knife was just scratching the surface.
I hope you got lights on that tower, because it's a hazard to real world planes.
Keep up the good work guys.
I just found this on ebay. I thought hey Tivoli Beer is a Coloardo Beer. This is a Atlas Masterline and I paid $30. Atlas masterline should have good detail right?
But... where's the door? Do they load the beer in the roof hatches?
Also the coupler box doesn't have any screws. I will have to cut the coupler box off to install Kadee's. I found out Atlas agiuired some line of cars like 10 years ago.
This should not be sold as Masterline, and not worth $30.
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
Ed: Good luck with your K4 problems. That sure sounds like a lot of troubleshooting. Hopefully the root cause can be identified and everything will be OK in the end.
Bear: Thank you for the humor. It is appreciated and needed.
Phil: Your new camera is working well. That is a beautiful picture.
Jimmy: Thank you for checking in. I look forward to an update.
Ringo: The weathering on the boxcar was a success. That box of goodies sure looks like a lot of fun.
Chip: The Tyco unit should run great with that Proto-Power-West chassis under the hood. I want to get the train together now, but all my freight cars are packed away.
I love your buildings. I can't wait to see them in scenery. Sometimes I do the same thing with kits. By the time I am done, you cannot tell what I started out with.
John: I had a few of those days this week. Work on drywall for 10 minutes, find a bunch of mistakes, think about if for two hours, make repairs for one hour, then do 10 more minutes of work. Not much progress like that.
I do switch between hobby aspects quickly and abrupty. I can go from craftsman resin kit to Tyco train sets without coming to a stop. If my mind had a gearbox it would be completely stripped out by now.
Michael: That car has doors. They open up on hinges with a center locking bar, they are kind of like the rear doors on a semi-trailer. On the model they are not functional. Sliding doors did not seal well enough for refrigerated boxcars, so insulated hinged doors it was. I only have a couple of Altas Master freight cars in my collection. They are hard to convert to Kadee trucks, and the coupler boxes are awful.
York1Another Bear entry. I never think fast enough to come up with things like you do. I'm not real quick.
Not at all...
MotleyI just found this on ebay. I thought hey Tivoli Beer is a Coloardo Beer. This is a Atlas Masterline and I paid $30. Atlas masterline should have good detail right?
JaBear I’m sure it was the Atlas HO Masterline 36-foot wooden reefers had opening doors. While I marvelled at how the intricate door opening mechanism worked like the prototype, I also thought it was far too dinky for the Bears paws, gimmicky, and eye wateringly expensive!!!
I have a brass Overland refrigerated boxcar with operating doors.
They will be glued shut when I paint it. They whole thing is flimsy, not easy to latch closed, and will be broken very quickly.
Thanks for starting WPF Kevin.
Who could not like the Santa Fe Red Warbonnet Scheme, especially restored out of a Tyco Nice!
I think Tyco was only HO scale unless I may be corrected. N scale as I know was Bachmann back in the day.
I got this set to replace the one that doesn't work anymore from my dear old Grandad.
Replaced this one that is appx. 45 years old I still have.
And the bowline knot Bear.
Yes, Thanks for the memory. I definitely got a chuckle but it meant more to me than that. It was a man named Leo Neiser that was always old when I knew him. How I loved that man and still do. He taught me how to tie knots on his dock at his Milacs Lake Resort when I was very young still in grade school, among many other things that he taught me.
I do have a memory and will never forget. You make a loop with the rope. The rabbit comes up out of the hole, goes around the tree and back down the hole
A fond memory of my friend Leo
TF
Well, I don't have any scratch-built marvel or outstanding layout to share. In fact, I just got through purchasing my first HO scale products since I was maybe 12 years old (many years ago). I've got plenty of early 60s era O scale equipment, but decided to go slighty more modern when dipping my toes into HO.
Some may laugh at my "Carpet Central", but I was happy to get a loop setup of 31" radius Kato Unitrack, a Scaletrains ET44AH, 2 sets of Kato Maxi-IV double-stack well cars, an assortment of containers to load them up with, and an ESU CabControl DCC system to run it all.
Track fiddlerI do have a memory and will never forget. You make a loop with the rope. The rabbit comes up out of the hole, goes around the tree and back down the hole
The little brown eel comes out of the cave...
Kevin, Thanks for the WPF opening. No telling how many eager youngsters happily found a Tyco train set under the tree. The train around our tree was always Pop's O scale Marx, but I do recall my brother and I sharing a Tyco slot car set one Christmas.
Ed, I like seeing brass, and it machines nice too.
Phil, Wonderful scene, pulls together well, especially the vegatation, creek, track and train.
John, Your radio station reminds me of nights in the 60s catching Wolfman Jack on the hop.
Chip, Nice hoosegow, doubt an inmate would agree.
Allez! Allez!
Thanks to all the contributors and viewers, have a good weekend, regards, Peter
SeeYou190 -Kevin
TF--Nice memory locomotives.
Peter--What location are you modeling on your layout? The cars are foreign, right? Nice bike rally/race.
I built another house today. This one only took 3 hours.
Tomorrow I start framing the livery stable I am building.
Finished (for now) my Walthers Smith's General Store kit, renamed Van Deren for a family name. Someday the front deck will get an awning, and the building will get a little more weathering. But it will do for now.
This kit is interesting in that it snaps together. I had to do a little filing to get the corners flush, but overall it works okay.
I probably have a few too many Coca-Cola signs already in the town, but what can I say, I like it!
Great stuff as always this week. Bowline knot challenge: can you tie one around your own waist with one hand while holding the line with the other?
Cheers!
-Donn
All the modeling is looking really good here guys!
I get stuck on certain boxcars and buy many of them which is common to see in a long train. My last rut was Northern Pacific. Now I seem to be stuck on old wood sided box cars to pull behind my Steamers.
For some reason I really like these American Transit yellow cars. It may be the highlighted black hinges and ladders that stand out. The road numbers do matter as they are large. I have two more coming and I'm looking for more.
The funny thing is I don't even have plans for a dairy processing plant. Oh well, ...Maybe they're just passing through
Track fiddlerFor some reason I really like these American Transit yellow cars.
They were the epitome of advanced technology for their day:
9353 002 by John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, on Flickr
9353 001 by John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, on Flickr
Fascinating Ed
I must have good taste in box cars but I don't know how you do it. You've done it three times. Once with the exact same caboose. Another with the same DWP.
But this time I just got this in the mail today from e-bay with my MR magazine. My third American Transit car.
Ironic is the numbers match again with the picture of The Real McCoy you just posted
I'm starting to think you're some kind of magician
Maybe the Luck of the Irish or the Scottish Bagpipes I guess
Track fiddlerI'm starting to think you're some kind of magician
Ha! After sixty-four years on God's green earth you pick up a thing or two along the way
That, and just dumb luck
Track fiddlerMaybe the Luck of the Irish or the Scottish Bagpipes I guess
Glad you like the photos, TF Be Happy
Okay Ed
With that I'm going to hit the rack as it's High Noon.
Unbelievable
This lad will sleep well tonight with good boxcar dreams as I'm sure you will
Michael: I see what you mean about the doors not looking like doors on that model. The hinges look like they are just attached to the car sides.
Peter: I like the bicycle race scene. Great contribution as always.
Chip: Your weekend structure looks good too. Fast and impressive.
Donn: You did a remarkable job on the finishing on the Walthers General Store. That looks very reallistic. You have convinced me that I will need to add that structure somewhere.
Fiddler: I know what you mean about a certain type of freight car grabbing your fancy. I was grabbed by billboard refrigerated boxcars about a year ago, and went on a two month buying spree.
My Tyco SANTA FE caboose showed up in the mail yesterday, so I just had to pose it with the F unit.
Kevin
That's the wrong caboose here's the one you need
I have two of the CN engines both never run and the SF also never run theprice on the CN $4.88 price on the box of SF $12.48 in Jan 1962
https://imgur.com/a/7a6iuOy
mikeGTWThat's the wrong caboose here's the one you need
I am actually quite fond of the Tyco/Mantua bobber caboose. I have a couple I am planning to use the STRATTON AND GILLETTE after some rework and detailing.
What really interests me in that picture is the UNION PACIFIC flat car with the steel beam load. I am going to need one of those.